The New York Times recently published an article discussing the unsafe working conditions in the factories Apple employs to build its products. It’s no secret that several factories belonging to Apple’s ODM partners have harsh working conditions; there are rumors of anti-suicide pledges that Foxconn workers have to sign, and safety is obviously a concern following multiple preventable explosions at Foxconn plants. While much has reportedly been done to improve working conditions at these plants, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently assured his employees that the Cupertino-based company does care about the workers in each of those factories. Read on for more.

“Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly,” Cook said in a letter obtained by 9to5Mac. “We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.”

Cook said he is “outraged” and that Apple inspects its partners’ factories each year, with Foxconn having recently opened up its factories to independent inspections from the Fair Labor Association. “We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment,” he said. Cook’s full email to Apple employees follows below.

Team,

As a company and as individuals, we are defined by our values. Unfortunately some people are questioning Apple’s values today, and I’d like to address this with you directly. We care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. Any accident is deeply troubling, and any issue with working conditions is cause for concern. Any suggestion that we don’t care is patently false and offensive to us. As you know better than anyone, accusations like these are contrary to our values. It’s not who we are.

For the many hundreds of you who are based at our suppliers’ manufacturing sites around the world, or spend long stretches working there away from your families, I know you are as outraged by this as I am. For the people who aren’t as close to the supply chain, you have a right to know the facts.

Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain. As we reported earlier this month, we’ve made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers. We know of no one in our industry doing as much as we are, in as many places, touching as many people.

At the same time, no one has been more up front about the challenges we face. We are attacking problems aggressively with the help of the world’s foremost authorities on safety, the environment, and fair labor. It would be easy to look for problems in fewer places and report prettier results, but those would not be the actions of a leader.

Earlier this month we opened our supply chain for independent evaluations by the Fair Labor Association. Apple was in a unique position to lead the industry by taking this step, and we did it without hesitation. This will lead to more frequent and more transparent reporting on our supply chain, which we welcome. These are the kinds of actions our customers expect from Apple, and we will take more of them in the future.

We are focused on educating workers about their rights, so they are empowered to speak up when they see unsafe conditions or unfair treatment. As you know, more than a million people have been trained by our program.

We will continue to dig deeper, and we will undoubtedly find more issues. What we will not do — and never have done — is stand still or turn a blind eye to problems in our supply chain. On this you have my word. You can follow our progress at apple.com/supplierresponsibility.

To those within Apple who are tackling these issues every day, you have our thanks and admiration. Your work is significant and it is changing people’s lives. We are all proud to work alongside you.

Tim

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Apple, a company known for its secrecy, has released a list of its official suppliers for the first time ever. Due to backlash from human rights groups, Apple created a supplier responsibility page on the company’s website. Previously, the page only featured labor and human rights, worker health and safety, environmental impact, and general ethics information. The company has updated the page, however, and it now now includes a list of more than 150 different companies that supply parts for Apple products. The move is part of Apple’s effort to address ongoing concerns surrounding the wages and working conditions in factories belonging to its suppliers. ”Apple prohibits practices that threaten the rights of workers — even when local laws and customs permit such practices,” Apple said on its site. “We’ve taken action toward ending excessive recruitment fees, preventing the hiring of underage workers, and prohibiting discriminatory policies at our suppliers. And as the first technology company to be admitted to the Fair Labor Association, Apple is setting a new standard in transparency and oversight.”

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Aluminum dust, which accumulates during the iPad polishing process, likely contributed to the recent explosion at an iPad plant that injured 61 workers according to the group China Labor Watch. The explosion occurred earlier this week at the Pegatron-owned Ri Teng Computer Accessory factory. According to the United States Department of Labor Occupational Health & Safety administration, aluminum can become explosive if it is “suspended in the air at the right concentration.” Safety has always been a concern at the plants Apple chooses to manufacture its products, and the Cupertino-based firm also recently admitted that 15 of its supply chain plants violate China’s environmental regulations. “We are working closely with Pegatron to understand the cause of this accident,” Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu told Bloomberg. “Our hearts go out to the people who were hurt in Songjiang.”

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Foxconn’s plans to build a $12 billion factory in Brazil dedicated to producing iPads is “in doubt,” government officials in Brazil told Reuters. Reportedly, negotiations have stalled because both sides have yet to reach an agreement on tax breaks for Foxconn. Additionally, Brazil may not be able to populate the factory with enough skilled laborers. Worse still, Brazil has been tasked with building infrastructure for the 2014 World Cup followed by the Olympics two years later. Skeptics argue Brazil will not be able to finish all of the construction required for the two major sporting events and create Foxconn’s proposed “intelligent city” outside of Sao Paulo. Read on for more.

“The talks have been very difficult, and the project for a Brazilian iPad is in doubt,” one official told Reuters, noting that Foxconn has made “crazy demands,” in the country. “The negotiation is rather complex. The situation for structure, technology, energy, logistics, it’s all very complex,” Brazil’s Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante explained. Oddly, Mercadante also told press earlier this month that Foxconn was already prepared to begin production at a plan in Jundiaí, Brazil. “We’re dealing with a lot of issues, like the [Foxconn] trying to figure out how to do business in Brazil … and Brazil figuring out how to produce these complicated products,” another Brazilian official said. “Maybe we will end up starting with something smaller.”

Reports surfaced on September 26th that Apple was cutting iPad orders by 25% for the fourth quarter of this year, although there was also speculation the 25% cut was simply a shift from Hon Hai’s Chinese plants to Brazil-based factories.

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A Foxconn factory in Shadong, China caught fire on Tuesday but the blaze was quickly extinguished, Reuters reported. Foxconn said there will not be an impact on production and there were no worker casualties. An explosion caused damage at a Foxconn factory in Chengdu, China in May, and resulted in three Foxconn worker deaths, 15 injuries and a slowdown in Apple iPad production. That tragedy also caused a 2.14% monthly revenue dip, or about US$6.95 billion in lost revenue. A Foxconn spokesperson told Reuters that Tuesday’s fire was caused by electrical cables on the factory roof and noted that the damages will be covered by insurance. A video of the fire follows after the break.

[Via M.I.C. Gadget]

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Apple may invest $1 billion in a Sharp LCD factory to ensure adequate production of screens for its iPhone and iPad, according to MF Global FXA Securities analyst David Rubenstein. Apple typically buys its LCD displays from Samsung, LG and Chimei Innolux, although recent reports have suggested the iPhone maker has boosted its orders with Samsung after LG failed to meet iPad 2 display requirements. However, Apple’s recent legal battles with Samsung in the United States, the European Union and Australia could be why the company is looking to invest in other manufacturers. “If the situation escalates into a state of war, this could mean a huge shift in orders,” a source told Reuters, suggesting that Apple could give larger orders to Elpida Memory and Toshiba. Sharp is expected to provide the LCD displays for Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone, which is expected to launch next year.

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Hon Hai-owned manufacturing giant Foxconn intends to release a portion of its workforce in favor of 1 million new robot workers according to a new report. Xinhua News Agency said on Friday that Hon Hai chairman and founder Terry Gou confirmed the news, seemingly in callous fashion at an employee dance party. The new robots will be used to perform “simple and routine work” such as part assembly and welding. Foxconn currently employs approximately 1.2 million people and also utilizes 10,000 robots. According to the chairman’s reported comments, the number of robot workers will increase to 300,000 next year and 1 million in three years. It is unclear how much of Foxconn’s current workforce will be let go following the introduction of these new robots. Foxconn’s treatment of its workforce has garnered a great amount of attention following a string of employee suicides.

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An explosion at Foxconn’s iPad manufacturing plant in Chengdu, China last month had a negative impact on the company’s business in May despite initial assurances to the contrary. Foxconn’s revenue last month dipped 2.14% sequentially to NT$200.56 billion, or approximately US$6.95 billion, following production halts tied to the fatal explosion that killed three workers and injured at least 15 more. The tragic accident, caused by the ignition of flammable aluminum dust in a parts polishing workshop, is thought to have cut iPad 2 production by as many as 500,000 units. Foxconn’s revenue in May was still up 23% compared to the same month last year.

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DigiTimes is citing a report from sznews.com today that three Foxconn employees have been arrested in Shenzhen, China for leaking the design specs of the iPad 2 to third-party case manufacturers ahead of the device’s launch. The three were allegedly arrested in December of last year and were charged in late March for the leaks. Foxconn grew suspicious of its own employees after accurate third-party iPad 2 cases began popping up on the market; the firm then asked local authorities to investigate. Foxconn manufacturers electronics for a number of major companies including Apple, HP, Palm, and Sony, and it has been called out in the past for the harsh treatment of its employees. [Via AppleInsider]

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New intel gathered by enthusiast blog Droid-Life sheds some light on the steps Motorola XOOM owners are going to have to take to make their tablets LTE compatible. Approximately 90 days after launch, customers can send their XOOM units back to Motorola, free of charge, for the promised LTE upgrade. The whole process, according to a Talking Points data sheet, should take six business days. The memo also notes that users “do not have to change their [data] plan when transitioning to 4G LTE.” Hit the jump to have a look at the document for yourself… and let us know what you think.

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Foxconn finds itself in more hot water Wednesday as new reports emerge concerning working conditions at a factory operated by sister company Foxteq. Workers at the packing plant, located in Rydalmere, Australia, have come forward with allegations of exploitation and poor working conditions. Some went as far as to describe conditions at the plant as “depression-era,” with employees required to work long hours and no guarantee that they would be asked to return the next day. Foxteq performs packing services for HP, IBM and other large companies, and is currently being investigated by several of its clients as a result of the accusations. Sister company Foxconn, which manufactures electronics for giants like Apple and HP, fell under the microscope earlier this year when a string of employee suicides took place on the company’s campus. The suicides were blamed on poor working conditions and low wages.

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Samsung Mobile Display will use Samsung’s new, $2.1 billion factory being constructed in Korea to increase display production. The new factory, located in the southern section of Seoul, will up Samsung’s display making capacity from 3 million units to 30 million units per month. Martin Fichter, HTC’s vice president of product management and planning, said “the display was definitely one of the bigger issues that we needed to solve.” Samsung expects demand for its AMOLED displays to drastically increase in the coming years, estimating that 700 million AMOLED devices will be in the market by 2015. The report cited HTC — specifically the DROID Incredible and EVO 4G models — as being the company most affected by the current AMOLED shortage.

[Via PhoneScoop]

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What happens when the assembly team up in Waterloo forgets to delete some test pictures on a BlackBerry Storm? Well, usually that person who bought the phone will notice the left-behind photosnap and send it into BGR! If anyone remembers the cute Asian chick in the iPhone factory fiasco, this is basically the same drill. We’re told that this picture was left on a production BlackBerry Storm purchased from Verizon. While it doesn’t expose too much, it gives us a nice little view into how these puppies are tested, boxed, and shipped. Ya’ box ‘em, and then ya’ ship ‘em. Any questions? First, I…? Larger picture is after the jump!

Thanks, LT!